Bangladesh fire fighters, Saturday put out the blaze at a packaging factory where an explosion earlier in the day triggered a massive fire, which led to the collapse of its three-story building.
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Around 70 people were also injured, some critically, in the fire at the factory, which packages food and cigarette products for local and foreign brands. The blaze broke out as workers prepared to swap shifts in the early hours of Saturday morning.
The industrial disaster is the worst to hit Bangladesh since the Rana Plaza building collapse in April 2013, which killed 1,137 mostly garment workers.
The BBC reported about 100 people including machine operators and guards were in the building at the time of the fire.
Eleven people still remained missing based on information from their relatives, said Fatema-Tuz-Zohra, an official of the control room that the Gazipur administration has opened. The location of the boiler in the building was also being scrutinized.
The Tampaco factory supplies multinational and domestic brands including British-American Tobacco Bangladesh Limited and Nestle Bangladesh Limited, according to a company website.
“We have launched investigation. the persons responsible for the accident, the owner of the factory in particular, will face stern legal action”, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan said.
The fire was triggered by a boiler explosion triggered the blaze at around 6 a.m. and spread quickly because flammable chemicals stored at the factory.
Four years ago at least 111 workers were killed in a fire at a nine-storey garment factory in the Ashulia industrial area.
Garments are a vital sector for Bangladesh and its low wages and duty-free access to Western markets have helped make it the world’s second-largest apparel exporter after China.
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This latest tragedy raises further important, long-standing questions about Bangladesh’s safety record. In 2012, 112 workers died in a fire at a factory just outside the capital.
